WASHINGTON – A motorcyclist was flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital to be treated for ‘major injuries’ after being struck on Old Route 100 just north of Bechtelsville by a fire truck returning from a garage fire early Friday morning.
The motorcyclist was listed in ‘critical’ condition Friday afternoon.
According to state police, Jarad S. Kulp, 31, of Bechtelsville, pulled his 1999 Harley-Davidson out of a parking lot at 12:31 a.m. and tried to make a left to head north on Old Route 100 near the intersection with Robin Hill Road.
But he pulled out in front of the the 2006 Freightliner fire truck belonging to the Eastern Berks Fire Department and being driven by 48-year-old Jeffrey A. Reitnauer of Bechtelsville, police said.
Kulp hit the right front side of the fire truck and was thrown from his motorcycle, which came to rest in the southbound lane of Old Route 100, police said.
The fire truck came to a rest in the northbound lane facing south.
Neither the driver nor any of the other firefighters in the truck – Christopher G. Schaeffer, 51 of Bechtelsville; Scott A. Reitnauer, 44, of Boyertown; Joshua R. Schmale, 26, of Bechtelsville; or a 15-year-old unnamed male from Boyertown – were injured, according to state police.
All of the firefighters were wearing seat belts.
Police indicated Kulp was not using any safety equipment.
The fire truck’s driver is not being charged by police, but the driver of the motorcycle will be.
Firefighters arrived at the fire, which destroyed a garage on Treichler Road in District Township, at 9:11 p.m. Thursday and found the fire fully involved, and the home nearby in danger of catching fire as ‘the siding had already melted,’ according to information posted on the fire department’s web site.
A second alarm was called, but the worst part of the fire was knocked down quickly, although firefighters were on the scene until ‘after midnight,’ according to the department.
The Eastern Berks Fire Department has stations in Bally, Barto and Bechtelsville.